Genesis 12 Study – “God’s Promise to Abram” – (vv. 1-20)
Promises to Abram
12 Now the Lord had said to Abram:
“Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
4 So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the [a]people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. 6 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as [b]the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.
7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your [c]descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8 And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. 9 So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the [d]South.
Abram in Egypt
10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11 And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance. 12 Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that [e]I may live because of you.”
14 So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. 15 The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
17 But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 And Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way.” 20 So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.
Notes Genesis 12 – Study – (vv. 1-20)
12:1-7: “The Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets” – (CREED) … He spoke through the prophet Moses, who wrote this Scripture … St. Paul said, “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed” – (Galatians 3:8) … The Holy Spirit preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham … It was also the Holy Spirit that inspired Moses to write v. 1 that THE LORD SAID TO ABRAM this scripture … Who is this Lord??? He is God the Father, as St. Paul indicated in Galatians 3:8: “God would justify the Gentiles by faith” – So the Father preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham … In v. 7, the Holy Spirit inspired Moses to write that THE LORD APPEARED to Abraham and spoke to him … Who is the Lord who appeared??? The Holy Spirit identified Him as the Angel of the Lord in Genesis 16:7, 9, 10, 11, & 13) … This Word is the Son of God – (AthanG) and the Angel is also the Son of God, for He was no created angel – (HilryP) … “He is called Angel because He alone reveals the Father” – (AthanG) … The Son also preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, for the Father always speaks through His word … Therefore, where one Person of the Trinity is present and working, the other two Persons are also present in one and the same working for the salvation of man … The Father works through the Son and in the Spirit …
Galatians 3:8
8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.”
Genesis 16:7-13
7 Now the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”
9 The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.” 10 Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” 11 And the Angel of the Lord said to her:
“Behold, you are with child, And you shall bear a son. You shall call his name [a]Ishmael, Because the Lord has heard your affliction. 12 He shall be a wild man; His hand shall be against every man, And every man’s hand against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”
13 Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-[b]the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here [c]seen Him who sees me?”
12:8: Abraham is the father of all the faithful – (Romans 4:11) … Since he built an altar of worship, therefore an altar is part of his faith … BETHEL means “HOUSE OF GOD”, which foreshadows the Church as the house of God … The altar is central to worship … At the altar, the Church CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD, as did Abraham …
Romans 4:11
11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also,
12:17: The Lord protected Sarah’s virtue, and the Incarnation … For Abraham and Sarah begot Isaac, through whom the promise in Christ was made – (Romans 9:7) …
Romans 9:7
7 nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but “In Isaac your seed shall be called.”
Notes Genesis 13 Study - “Abram and Lot Part Ways” – (vv. 1-18)
Abram Inherits Canaan
13 Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the [a]South. 2 Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord.
5 Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. 6 Now the land was not able to [b]support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. 7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.
8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”
10 And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. 11 Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. 12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. 13 But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord.
14 And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; 15 for all the land which you see I give to you and your [c]descendants forever. 16 And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. 17 Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”
18 Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by [d]the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the Lord.
Notes Genesis 13 – Study – (vv. 1-18)
13:1-5: Canaan, not Egypt, was the land of promise … While in Egypt, Abraham never lost his focus on God’s promise in the gospel of salvation, for he returned to Bethel, the house of God, and CALLED ON THE NAME OF THE LORD – (v. 4) … Similarly, those who possess Abraham’s faith keep their focus on this same gospel …
13:6-9: Abraham was a peacemaker, and “Blessed are the peacemakers”, /For they shall be called sons of God” – (Matthew 5:9) … He was looking for his eternal inheritance in “THE WORLD TO COME” – (CREED; SEE ALSO Hebrews 11:9-11) … Although he was very, he was a man of virtue … For in his heart, he was detached from his wealth and from the love of land … He overcame STRIFE – (v .7) and made peace with Lot … Therefore, virtue characterized the faith of Abraham, and it will also characterize his spiritual children …
Matthew 5:9
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.
Hebrews 11:9-11
9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she[a] bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.
13:10-13: Lot, on the other hand, was attached to the beauty of the landscape … it looked like the Garden of Eden … Unlike Abraham, he walked by sight, and not by faith – (2Corinthians 5:7) … He chose wrongfully, not because of the beauty itself, but because of his immature faith … His poor judgement landed him with the people of Sodom … THEY WERE EXCEEDINGLY WICKED AND SINFUL BEFORE GOD – (v. 13) – beautiful scenery but an extremely depraved environment … Their godless behavior oppressed and tormented his righteous soul everyday – (2Peter 2:7, 8) …
2Corinthians 5:7
7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.
2Peter 2:7-8
7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)—
13:14-18: Lot “pitched his tent” in Sodom – (v. 12), but Abraham BUILT AN ALTAR – (v. 18) – a notable difference in the two men … One trapped himself in the environment of this fallen world; the other focused himself on the Lord … However, the Lord would eventually deliver righteous Lot from Sodom – (2Peter 2:9) …
2Peter 2:9
9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,
After the Study we will continue reading in the Book THE LIE BY: KEN HAM …
PEACE BE WITH YOU ALL
IN CHRIST LOVE JARED …
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